Elections 2022: Punjab CM's brother files nomination from Bassi Pathana as independent

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's brother Manohar Singh on Friday filed his nomination papers from Bassi Pathana seat as an independent candidate. The Congress has fielded sitting legislator Gurpreet Singh GP from Bassi Pathana seat in Fatehgarh Sahib district.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has seized drugs worth nearly Rs 75 crore from Punjab in the run-up to assembly elections. EC sources said drugs worth Rs 74.64 crore were seized under the expenditure monitoring process in Punjab up to Thursday, followed by Manipur (Rs 65.54 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 25.54 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 4.03 crore) and Goa (0.98 crore).

The poll authority has made seizures worth Rs 240 crore from the five poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa in the form of cash, liquor, drugs, freebies and precious metals.
 

"Neither Akhilesh Yadav's election plan nor his plane is taking off. It is his failure and frustration due to which he is blaming BJP for this. People in Uttar Pradesh indicated to him in 2014 that he is not capable to be the CM when BJP won 73 seats in Lok Sabha polls," Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister KP Maurya.

"It's their conspiracy to divert our votes...but no one is falling into their trap...they (BJP) only do divisive politics," RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary on BJP's claims of RLD-BJP post-poll alliance.

"I'll contest independently from Bassi Pathana. I made sure there's no mention of my brother's name in my posters, but some people have made banners using my brother's name along with mine; no differences between me and my brother," said Manohar Singh, Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi's brother.

Congress candidate and sitting legislator Dalvir Singh Goldy from Punjab's Dhuri seat has challenged the AAP's chief ministerial face Bhagwant Mann for an open debate on the issue of development works, claiming the comedian has nothing to show to the people.

Goldy is locked in a high-stake electoral battle with Mann, who is the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) CM face and candidate from Dhuri. The Shiromani Akali Dal has fielded former Sangrur legislator Parkash Chand Garg from Dhuri seat.
 

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that if her party comes to power in Uttar Pradesh, it will set up a special recruitment commission to streamline the selection process for all vacant government posts.

Shiromani Akali Dal leader and candidate from Amritsar East, Bikram Singh Majithia held a door-to-door campaign in the constituency. "Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu is a failed model," Majithia said.

Earlier in the day, he had said, "There's no development here (Amritsar East). If CM Channi won't make him (Sidhu) the CM, he can even go to Pakistan to become head of the Pakistan Muslim League. People are exposing his models. If he can't be of his own mother how will he be yours(public)." 

Speaking at an event in Shahjahanpur, BJP President JP Nadda said, "Today, there are five international airports in Uttar Pradesh. Metro rail construction is underway in Noida, Lucknow, Kanpur and Ghaziabad. Earlier, there was land mafia in the State, but now lakhs of houses have been constructed".

Further attacking the opposition parties over failure to work towards development in UP, the BJP President mentioned, "The agenda of opposition political parties was to promote land mafia, sand mafia, not law and order in the State. But today, the mafia had surrendered in the State. Some of the SP candidates are either in jail or on bail". 

"Sukhbir Singh Badal and Charanjit Singh Channi never abuse each other, they abuse me... as if I have looted Punjab... What is my fault?": Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in Adampur.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President J.P. Nadda on Friday conducted door-to-door campaigning for the party in Shahjahanpur. He distributed pamphlets (comprising party manifesto) as part of the door-to-door campaign.

"The two are farmers' sons, will fight for farmers till the end. That's why I always carry a packet in my pocket - 'laal topi' and 'laal potli'. I carry an 'ann sankalp' to defeat them (BJP) and make them run away," Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav at SP-RLD joint briefing in Muzaffarnagar.

"BJP made false promises; we assure timely compensation to farmers; it will be a historic win for RLD and SP this time," Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said at a joined press briefing of SP-RLD in Muzaffarnagar.

He added that Bharatiya Janata Party is raising old issues. "Today what is happening to the youth. BJP doesn't want to talk about employment," Akhilesh added.

Addressing a gathering in Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath said that the BJP government has credited as much as the total annual budget of the previous government in farmers' accounts.

"We provided 43 lakh houses to the poor which is higher in comparison to the houses provided from 2003 to 2017 when SP and BSP ruled the state," he added.

Congress leader and former CM Harish Rawat on Thursday filed nomination from Lalkuan Assembly seat for February 14 Assembly elections.

In a breather for BJP, Union Minister Shripad Naik's son Siddesh decided to support the party candidate from Cumbarjua. After sitting MLA Pandurang Madkaikar's wife Janita was given the ticket from Cumbarjua despite his staking claim to this seat, Naik was mulling quitting the party and contesting as an Independent. However, the saffron party managed to mollify him by making him the secretary of the party's Goa unit apart from giving him the responsibility of the Vasco Da Gama seat. 

In a big allegation, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that his helicopter was not being allowed to take from Delhi from Muzaffarnagar. Mentioning that a top BJP's chopper had just taken from here, he alleged that this is a "desperate conspiracy" of BJP because it is losing the election. Incidentally, he was scheduled to address a joint press conference with RLD supremo Jayant Chaudhary at Muzaffarnagar today. 

BJP declared candidates for 91 more constituencies for the UP polls. While Minister Siddharth Nath Singh will contest from Allahabad West, UP CM's media advisor Shalabh Mani Tripathi got a ticket from Deoria. However, the saffron party is yet to declare a candidate from the Lucknow Cantonment seat, where a number of contenders have emerged.

Commenting on the new candidate list, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said, "Hearty congratulations to all the BJP candidates declared today for the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Elections-2022. All of you are the followers of the mantra 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas'. 'Jan Vishwas' is your capital. Victory is sure for all of you."

On the campaign trail in poll-bound Punjab, Congress leader Sachin Pilot backed the demand to declare a CM candidate in the state. Speaking to the media, he said, "As Rahul Gandhi said yesterday that there was demand from the workers of Punjab, very soon the face (chief ministerial candidate) will be announced. I am sure Congress will form government in Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab". 

Amid growing revolt in Punjab Congress ahead of assembly elections, the party's four-time MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon filed his nomination as an independent candidate on Thursday after being denied ticket. The 79-year-old sitting MLA from Samrala claimed that the party betrayed him despite winning from the seat four times and gave preference to people who have money.  Ignoring four-time MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, Congress has given the ticket to Rupinder Singh Raja Gill, a real-estate baron and commission agent from Khanna. 

In a setback for TMC, ex-Goa CM Luizinho Faleiro withdrew his candidature for the Fatorda seat in the Goa polls. He explained, "I hereby announce my withdrawal as the Goa TMC candidate from Fatorda and hand over the baton to a young lady, professional and advocate (Seoula Vaz). And that has been the policy of the party- to empower the women. I have taken this decision after consulting our party national chairman. Because I will like to fight and campaign all over Goa for all the TMC candidates so that they can perform well. And my earlier experience says that when I fought the election last time, we could not do justice to them". 

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to set to file his nomination papers from Karhal on January 31. Falling under the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency which is considered Mulayam Singh Yadav's turf, Karhal has been won by SP since 1993 barring 2002 when BJP's Sobaran Singh Yadav emerged victorious. The latter joined SP subsequently and has been the winning candidate of the Akhilesh Yadav-led party since 2007. 

Throwing down the gauntlet to Yogi Adityanth, Azad Samaj Party chief Chandrashekhar Azad predicted a repeat of 1971 as he is taking on the UP CM from the Gorakhpur Urban seat. This was a reference to the then Chief Minister Tribhuvan Narain Singh losing to Ramkrishna Dwivedi from Gorakhpur's Manipur seat. Incidentally, this was the only time when a sitting CM contested an Assembly election from any seat in Gorakhpur. 

Speaking to PTI, Chandrashekhar Azad remarked, "We need to go back to the history of Gorakhpur In 1971, a sitting chief minister, T N Singh, was defeated by the people of Gorakhpur. Similarly, Adityanath is the CM now and is responsible for the destruction of UP and Gorakhpur in the last five years". Earlier, he announced an alliance of 35 smaller parties- Samajik Parivartan Morcha which will field candidates on all 403 seats. 

Samajwadi Party's poll candidate and former minister Mohammad Azam Khan was denied bail in a 2014 case. A Special MP/MLA Court in Lucknow passed the order observing that the Rampur MP had published facts that could cause fear in the public, and incite a person or a community to disrupt peace in the society. Khan, who is presently lodged in Sitapur jail over a number of cases, filed his nomination on Wednesday for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. 

As per sources, Congress leader and actor Raj Babbar may join Samajwadi Party soon. Raj Babbar, whose term in Rajya Sabha ended in November 2020, served as the president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress unit from 2016 to 2019. Incidentally, he was suspended from SP in February 2006.

Dr. Manohar Singh, brother of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi will file nomination as an Independent candidate from Bassi Pathana at 1 pm today. This comes after the Congress party rebuffed his demand for a ticket. Speaking exclusively to Republic TV on January 16, he accused Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and others of misleading the high command about the on-ground situation. Moreover, Dr.Singh stressed that he sought the ticket on the basis of merit and not because he is the brother of the CM. 

Farah Naeem, the Congress candidate from Shekhupur Assembly seat in Badaun, says she will not fight the polls.

"Party district president Onkar Singh said Muslim women should not get a ticket and that I'm a characterless woman. Women are not safe in the district unit," she said.

BJP fields Jagmohan Singh Raju from Amritsar East Assembly constituency against Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Raju, posted as Chief Resident Commissioner to Tamil Nadu government, sought voluntary retirement from the IAS on January 25.

Charanjit Singh Channi is a sinner and a corrupt person. The efforts of my entire life have gone to vain due to Channi’s backstabbing. I will go to Chamkaur Sahib (CM's Assembly constituency) and beg people, asking them not to vote for Channi: Punjab Congress leader Jagmohan S Kang

Goa Congress has fielded Ranjit Rane in place of Pratapsingh Rane from Poriem Constituency. This development comes after the latter decided to withdraw himself from the contest.

Goa polls: TMC fields Victor Benjamin Gonsalves from Santa Cruz and Mahesh Bhandari from Dabolim Assembly constituencies

Congress has named Dhan Singh Negi as its candidate from Tehri Assembly constituency for the upcoming Uttarakhand elections

"Rahul Gandhi Ji was too late to arrive in Punjab. He cannot show his face to the people because he failed in fulfilling the promises he made to the people of Punjab five years ago," said Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

Ahead of the Goa elections, in a major setback for Congress, its senior-most candidate Pratap Singh Rane has withdrawn his candidature from the Poriem Assembly constituency citing old age. The former Chief Minister was pitted against his daughter in law Divya Rane who is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Poriem.

"Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and State Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu assured me that whoever will lead (CM face) Punjab the other person will support him. We will ask Congress workers to decide Punjab Chief Ministerial candidate," Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a virtual rally.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "When the Bua-Bhatija ruled Uttar Pradesh, there was a fear of goons everywhere in the state and if they belonged to a particular section, then no action was ever taken against them. But today Azam Khan, Atiq Ahmed, Mukhtar Ansari are in jail and the list goes on and on."

There is no fight between us. Announce chief minister face for Punjab polls, we (Punjab Congress) will stand united: Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said during a gathering where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present.

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu has given an ultimatum to Rahul Gandhi to declare CM face in the state. He said that the Wayanad MP can take 7-10 days to announce the party's chief ministerial candidate.

Congress General Secretary In-Charge UP, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday interacted with the students who were beaten up by police in Prayagraj, via video conference. Gandhi assured the students to raise their issues at every platform and promised to meet them in person, UP Congress informed.

Punjab Congress leader Jagmohan S Kang has requested Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to allot election ticket from the Assembly constituency of Kharar-52 to his son Yadavindra S Kang. He says “CM Channi is opposing us out of professional jealousy”, warns of taking a drastic step.

Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah on Thursday conducted a door-to-door campaign in Dadri, Gautam Buddha Nagar. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted door to door campaigning in Bijnor.

Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party has released a list of 53 candidates for the assembly elections. 

In a big relief to Congress candidate Sukhpal Khaira for Punjab Polls, Punjab Haryana High Court has granted him bail in the money laundering case. Khaira will now file a nomination from Bholath.

"We are not on the wrong side; all seats will be won by our alliance; it's not a short term alliance": RLD Chief Jayant Chaudhary on Amit Shah's post-poll alliance offer

When confronted by Republic Media Network, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Channi avoided the question on five Congress MPs that boycotted Rahul Gandhi's program. He stated that "they had work".

A TMC delegation complained to the Election Commission of India expressing their apprehensions about free and fair elections in Goa. Speaking to the media later, TMC MP Santanu Sen accused a flying squad of the EC of raiding his party office in Panaji at night and damaging their hoardings and flags. According to him, the EC ensured that the elections will be impartial and that shall remain vigilant whenever a similar complaint is made about other political parties too. 

In an exclusive scoop, Republic TV learnt that 5 Congress Lok Sabha MPs- Jasbir Singh Gill, Preneet Kaur, Manish Tewari, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Mohammad Sadique skipped former party president Rahul Gandhi's programme in Amritsar. Sources revealed that these parliamentarians have asserted that they do not accept the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. 

Goa CM Pramod Sawant filed his nomination from the Sanquelim seat. Speaking to the media later, he said, "Once again I've filed nomination from Sanquelim constituency. BJP will win the constituency with a big margin and I will be elected from here again. The workers and I are confident. We are coming back to power in Goa in 2022 with 22 plus seats". 

After BJP decided to field former Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay from Tehri, the sitting MLA from this seat- Dhan Singh Negi resigned from the party. As Congress is yet to nominate a candidate from this seat, speculation is rife that Negi will be given the ticket from here. 

A case was registered against Samajwadi Party's candidate Adil Chaudhary after a video showing him allegedly threatening of taking revenge once they come to power went viral on social media. He purportedly said, "I've said that the public will take revenge from BJP as they didn't give beds, medicine, oxygen during COVID. Farmers lost their lives in the agitation, so people will not spare them". He was booked under Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code.

In a setback for Samajwadi Party, its sitting MLA from Moradabad Haji Ikram Qureshi jumped ship to Congress. This came after he was denied a ticket to contest the upcoming UP polls. As per sources, he will now contest from Moradabad on a Congress ticket. 

In an important development, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the petition of SAD general secretary Bikram Majithia seeking anticipatory bail. It directed the Punjab Police to not take any coercive action against him until Monday, January 31, i.e the next day of the hearing. Majithia is contesting the Punjab Assembly polls from his stronghold of Majitha as well as Amritsar East, where Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu is contesting. 

After being expelled from the Congress party a day earlier, Kishore Upadhyay joined BJP today in the presence of Uttarakhand BJP chief Madan Kaushik and BJP's state election in-charge Pralhad Joshi. He served as the president of the Uttarakhand Congress unit from 2014 to 2017. 

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will commence his one-day tour of Punjab today by paying obeisance at the Golden Temple. He will also visit the Durgiana Mandir and the Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal along with the party's poll candidates. Later at 4 pm, he will address the 'Navi Soch Nava Punjab' virtual rally. In the evening, he will address a press conference in Jalandhar. 

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami mocked Congress for changing Harish Rawat's constituency. He opined, "They don't have a consensus. Sometimes, they nominate him from Ramnagar, sometimes elsewhere. I don't why Congress party is making fun of him".

Ahead of his entry into BJP, Kishore Upadhyay was expelled from the primary membership of Congress for a period of 6 years. He served as the president of the Uttarakhand Congress unit from 2014 to 2017. While he won the Assembly election from Tehri in 2002 and 2007, he lost the polls in 2012 and 2017 from Tehri and Sahaspur respectively. As per sources, BJP is likely to field him from the Tehri constituency. 

In a big blow to BJP, Union Minister Shripad Naik's son Siddesh Naik is likely to resign from the party after being denied a ticket for the upcoming Goa polls. As per sources, he held late-night meetings on Wednesday with his supporters and appealed to them to make sure that BJP's official candidate from Cumbarjua- sitting MLA Pandurang Madkaikar's wife Janita does not win. Sources revealed that Siddesh Naik might contest as an Independent from this seat. 

Uttar Pradesh:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that the NDA is likely to emerge as the single largest alliance once again in Uttar Pradesh with 249-269 seats in the 2022 Assembly polls. However, the saffron will suffer a major seat loss as Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and its allies may win 113-133 seats. The Bahujan Samaj Party's seat share is likely to reduce further as the Republic P-MARQ Opinion Poll suggests only 9-17 seats for Mayawati's party. On the other hand, Congress may get 3-9 seats.

Uttarakhand:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that BJP is likely to retain power with the party projected to win 34-40 seats in the 70-member Assembly. On the other hand, Congress is likely to see major gains. The grand old party is projected to win 27-33 seats, while debutant AAP can win 0-2 seats. The other parties and independents are likely to win 1-3 seats.

Punjab:

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that Punjab may witness a hung assembly as Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party might win 49-55 seats, just short of the majority mark. The ruling Congress is predicted to win 43-49 seats while Shiromani Akali Dal can get 15-21 seats. BJP, who is fighting polls in alliance with Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress and SAD (Sanyukt), can win 1-3 seats.

Goa: 

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to win 15-19 in the 40-member House. On the other hand, Indian National Congress, which was the single largest party in the 2017 assembly elections, is likely to get 10-14. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which went black in the last polls might win 5-9 seats. Debutant Trinamool Congress along with its ally MGP can get 1-5 seats. The majority mark is 21.

Manipur: 

Republic P-MARQ Opinion poll predicts that BJP is likely to stay ahead in the race as the poll shows the saffron party bagging the most 29-35 seats out of 60 seats followed by the Indian National Congress winning 13-19 seats. The National People’s Party (NPP) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) remain behind INC with 4-10 and 2-6 seats respectively.

Days before former CM Harish Rawat was set to file his nomination from Ramnagar, the Congress party changed his seat for the upcoming Uttarakhand election. In its third list of candidates released on Wednesday night, it dropped three candidates declared previously, switched the seats of two others and named 5 fresh faces. While Rawat will contest from Lalkuwa, Mahender Pal Singh was nominated from Ramnagar. Meanwhile, Harish Rawat's daughter and All India Mahila Congress general secretary Anupama Rawat shall fight the polls from the Haridwar Rural constituency. 

Elections are set to commence in 5 states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur and Punjab. The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh under CM Yogi Adityanath faces a resurging Akhilesh Yadav, in Uttarakhand it faces a strong Congress under ex-CM Harish Rawat, in Goa, Pramod Sawant faces a tricorner fight with Congress, TMC and AAP in the fray and Manipur CM Biren Singh faces a beleaguered Congress. However, in Punjab, it is the ruling Congress, which is now heavily embroiled in infighting, faces a rising AAP, Akali Dal-BSP and an unlikely combination of BJP-Amarinder Singh, apart from the farm union political leaders. Results for all elections will be declared on March 10.